Chapter 217: Thunder and Helpers

Chapter 217: Chapter 217: Thunder and Helpers

After Qi Fu and his wife left, the sun sank below the western hills, and darkness was about to fall.

Xiaqing put the four sunflowers Yuan Yan had pointed out, along with the four she had found earlier, into a basket. On her way past the chicken coop, she also picked up the chicken cage.

"CLUCK, CLUCK!"

The Black Feathered Rooster in the cage clucked unhappily, pecking at the bamboo cage with its beak.

’Is it upset I’m late?’

Xiaqing explained, "I was just off forming an alliance with someone, so I was a little delayed. I’m taking you all back today, and you won’t be out again for another four days. Let’s go, we’re heading home."

The poultry in the cage—except for that Red Light Goose—were all treasures. They determined whether Xiaqing could try the one hundred and twenty-eight ways to eat eggs this winter, so they had to be well-protected.

After returning home, Xiaqing carried the chicken cage into the sheep pen and placed it inside a larger coop she had built in her spare time over the past few days. This coop took up a quarter of the sheep pen. The bottom was lined with a layer of dirt, and outside of it, she placed a feeding trough and a water trough.

After checking the coop’s stability, Xiaqing inserted a small piece of Yi Stone into a small hole on top of it.

She had four Yi Stones in total: three the size of pigeon eggs and one the size of a walnut. To preserve food and cope with the coming Harmful Rain, she had broken the three pigeon-egg-sized ones into smaller pieces to be used.

In other words, to deal with the Harmful Rain, Xiaqing had used up Yi Stones worth over six hundred thousand points in total.

However, Xiaqing felt no regret.

Every resource should be used to its full potential, and she had put the three broken Yi Stones to critical use. Besides, after the Harmful Rain, the Yi Stones installed on the greenhouse and chicken coop could be retrieved, sealed in protective shells, and saved for the next Harmful Rain.

The usage period of a Yi Stone was, after all, up to two months long.

After returning to the house and eating a simple but energy-rich meal, Xiaqing laid the eight sunflower plants out on the table and observed them carefully.

If she had to point out a common feature among these sunflower plants, it would be the numerous "Tumors" of various sizes growing on their short, dense root systems. However, Xiaqing hadn’t dug up any other sunflowers to compare, so she didn’t know if this was normal.

She put on gloves and a Protective Mask, then carefully cut open one of the root Tumors on the Green Light sunflower with a dagger, only to find that it was hollow inside.

Xiaqing then cut open the large Tumors on the roots of the other seven sunflowers. Without exception, they were all hollow. Xiaqing didn’t know if this was normal for sunflowers, but the root nodules on peanuts and pumpkins were solid.

She took a photo of the root Tumor and recorded this characteristic in her notebook. Then, she called out to Sheep Leader, "Leader, this one is a Green Light plant. Want to give it a try?"

Sheep Leader trotted over, sniffed it, then turned and went back to the tatami mat.

He wasn’t trying it.

Xiaqing then called to the Sick Wolf, "Second, do you see anything wrong with this sunflower?"

The Sick Wolf lay on the tatami mat, gazing at Xiaqing with its clear eyes, not moving a muscle.

Hmm...

Xiaqing felt its gaze was identical to the look it gave Sheep Leader when he was acting crazy. Not wanting to dwell on what that meant, Xiaqing got up, sealed the sunflower plants, and stored them in the cellar.

If all eight sunflowers had the same problem, it meant that she and Yuan Yan had the same kind of "ability," and Yuan Yan’s "ability" was stronger than hers.

This was a very high possibility. After all, Yuan Yan had sensed something was wrong with the potatoes before they underwent a dangerous, aggressive Qiang Evolution, whereas Xiaqing hadn’t. Of course, that might have been because she wasn’t carefully observing the potato sprouts at the time.

Ever since the dancing potato sprout incident, Xiaqing had been wary of the seeds she received from the Safe Zone and observed them more carefully, which was why she had noticed something was off with the sunflowers.

It was also possible that she and Yuan Yan didn’t have the same "ability," which would be even better. If she and her ally had different abilities, their joint patrols of the farmland would be more effective.

Xiaqing was truly happy to have formed an Alliance with Territory No. 5. She now had an ally, as well as three powerful trading partners in No. 1, No. 7, and the Wolf Group. Her chances of surviving—and living well—were getting higher and higher.

After saying good night to the Sick Wolf and Sheep Leader, Xiaqing went upstairs to bed, humming a little tune. She had to get up at 12:30 AM tonight to fully arm herself and face the third Harmful Rain.

But as it turned out, she was woken up by a sound trap before it was even midnight. The triggered trap was located by the creek to the northeast of her territory.

She put on her Night Vision Goggles, got out of bed, and carefully lifted the blackout curtain to look north, coming face-to-face with a pair of eyes glowing with a faint green light.

She knew those eyes all too well. Xiaqing put her gun back on her waist and went downstairs, fully armed.

Only Sheep Leader was on the tatami mat; the Sick Wolf must have already gone out to investigate. Xiaqing said a quick word to Sheep Leader, and a few steps after leaving the village, she caught up with the slowly northward-bound Sick Wolf. "Second, I just took a look. Your companions are here."

The Sick Wolf, imitating Sheep Leader, rubbed its skinny body against Xiaqing’s leg as a sign of affection.

The human and wolf arrived at the creek and saw three wolves slowly approaching.

The Brain Domain Evolution Wolf with the injured waist was in the lead, with the broken leg wolf and the Black Wolf behind it. All three wolves had bulging bellies, looking like they had eaten their fill before coming. The two in the back were each carrying prey in their mouths.

The Brain Domain Evolution Wolf walked at a leisurely pace because the wound on its waist hadn’t healed yet. The Black Wolf followed obediently behind it, while the broken leg wolf, an impatient sort, trotted along shaking its head, occasionally darting back and forth with a few hops.

Seeing Xiaqing had finally arrived, the broken leg wolf immediately bounded over and showed her the prey it was carrying in its mouth.

It was another animal she didn’t recognize. Xiaqing asked in a soft voice, "Broken Leg, where did you catch this in the middle of the night? Doesn’t carrying it all this way make your jaws and teeth ache?"

Thinking it was being praised, the broken leg wolf placed the prey in front of Xiaqing and ran back to the Brain Domain Evolution Wolf’s side. The Sick Wolf also ambled over and greeted the three wolves by sniffing them.

The Broken Waist Wolf stopped two meters in front of Xiaqing, raised its Wolf Head, and gazed at her quietly. Xiaqing took off her Protective Mask and quietly gazed back at this wolf that was both weak and powerful.

The Harmful Rain was coming. The humidity was rising, but because Xiaqing was wearing a Yi Stone, she couldn’t judge by breathing whether the concentration of Harmful Elements in the air had increased. She only felt that it was very quiet at this moment. Even though the wind was blowing, even though water was gurgling nearby, even though countless nocturnal insects were busily rustling all around, even though she could hear the Broken Waist Wolf’s heavy breathing—she still felt it was quiet.

It was a very strange feeling.

Xiaqing calmly asked, "Broken Waist, are you planning to shelter from the Harmful Rain on my and Sheep Leader’s territory?"

The Brain Domain Evolution Wolf let out a low whine, and the Black Wolf standing behind it placed its prey in front of Xiaqing. This was a normal wolf; it didn’t need Xiaqing’s praise.

Xiaqing lifted the two prey, which together weighed over a hundred jin, and nodded her agreement. "Alright. The rain is almost here. Follow me home. You all walk slowly; I’ll go on ahead to process and store the prey."

After returning home, Xiaqing first dismantled the chicken coop in the sheep pen, carried it into the tool shed to reassemble it, and then laid out two straw mats inside the sheep pen. Only then did she go back into the house to process the two Yellow Light prey.

When she came out of the house after processing the prey, she found three wolves and one sheep nestled in the sheep pen, all looking up at her. Each wolf looked more serious than the last, while Sheep Leader, as always, wore his usual punchable expression as he chewed his cud.

The Black Wolf, at some unknown point, had already left.